Grave Gamer News & Views — activision

Gaming’s Fourth Wall Has Been Shot Down: Deadpool Video Game to Blame

Finally. If there’s one thing I’d have to admit is missing from gaming, I would say it’s fits of schizophrenic, homicidal rage.

The Merc with a Mouth may not be getting his dues on the silver screen (his script gathering dust in an executive’s office as you read this) but gaming has come to its senses and plopped Deadpool in the...

If you find yourself roped into a conversation about Spider-Man and video gaming, you won’t go long before someone feels obligated to mention Treyarch’s 2004 Spider-Man 2 movie tie-in.  It’s as if a blood vessel will burst in their head if they’re unable to remind you how much they loved Spider-Man 2.  Before Rocksteady’s Arkham series showed us another plateau of potential, SM2 was widely considered the best superhero game of all time.  Why?  Simple.  Despite being Raimi’s organically webbed, Average Joe interpretation of Spider-Man, and despite having the cruel restrictions of a billion dollar movie license and a very limited amount of time to craft the title, the game managed the unthinkable: it got Spider-Man right.

Activision Announces a New Walking Dead Video Game (No, Not That One)

Despite Telltale Games’ half-comic/half-show Walking Dead adventure games only being a third of the way complete on their episodic run, Activision is planning to release a first-person shooter take on the franchise that abandons Robert Kirkman’s comic-verse in favor of the hit AMC show’s canon.

Dropping for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 sometime next year, The Walking Dead video game focuses on brothers Daryl and Merle Dixon on their crimson soaked journey to Atlanta (wherein which both comic and television fans can attest to serious shit going down).  Players control Daryl and his survivalist arsenal of found weapons and – not to break gaming’s latest trend – trusty bow gun.

If you didn’t know, the apocalypse is a rough time to tough out, and as such you’ll have to scrounge and conserve supplies including food, water, and precious, precious ammo.  Daryl will encounter fellow survivors and even allow them to join your party, but it’s hinted you’ll have to be careful who you trust to get your back – keep in mind it’s also just as easy to leave them behind (mmm zombie drama, it fuels me).  I wish I had more to report but there’s little else in the way of info besides this teaser site, unfortunately.  Expect that to change soon.

Activision has set developer Terminal Reality loose on the zombified mythos, and hopefully their connection to Kinect Star Wars doesn’t make you nervous (i.e. It should).  Macabre scenery and undead headshots are pretty difficult to mess up in the world of gaming but there’s a mountain of expectation riding on this title because of the namesake alone.  In other words, we’ll see how this one plays out.

The Amazing Spider-Man (3DS/DS/PC/PS3/Wii/X360 - June 26th)

Beenox’s new Spider-Man foray came out of E3 with positive endorsements from those that got to demo it.  Some even went as far as to liken the game’s counter-based combat to Rocksteady’s Batman games.  The comparisons will have to end there until we actually get to take a spin in the red n’ blues ourselves.

It’s disheartening to hear that not a single member of Mark Webb’s principal cast has anything to do with the game, but the presence of Bruce Campbell makes up for their absence entirely.  His casting also serves as a bridge in gamers’ minds to the open world Spidey games that have been unfairly benched for the last couple of years, which Campbell narrated in.

Because if you hear Bruce, you’ve either died a warrior’s death at his hands or are playing a free roam Spider-Man game.  Both are joyous.

Sledgehammer Games Tackling Call of Duty 2013

Prepare to be savagely unsurprised: Activision plans to release yet another annual increment of Call of Duty in 2013.  Unlike the Infinity Ward/Treyarch development house trade off that’s been routine practice the last four years or so, a recent job listing on Sledgehammer’s website points to the Modern Warfare 3 collaborators as the next in line to handle the franchise instead.

Their ad for a Senior FX Artist (which has since been filled) also requested the candidate have professional experience with the inner workings of “current generation hardware."  Murmurs suggest this may be the last Call of Duty to come out during this console cycle and Infinity Ward’s assignment on an unnamed next-gen shooter reinforces that rumor.

Why even waste the resources, Activision?  The manpower, the advertising, the plastic you print the games on – save all that shit.  The way I see it, you don’t need to make a new CoD every year.  Just make one game that, every November, renders my system completely useless until I feed it $59.99.  For Elite Subscribers, they can have the additional incentive of a small fire emitting from the disc tray that can only be put out with a credit card.  I get to shoot virtual people, my family’s out of danger, and Acti makes more money – everyone’s happy.